by Susan Davis and Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

by Susan Davis and Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - Congress faces increasing pressure and a tight deadline to act on legislation considered "must pass," but partisan divisions and election year politics could send lawmakers home empty-handed.

Bills to address a border crisis, veterans' health care and funding for the nation's roads are incomplete, and rancorous negotiations failed to make significant progress by late Friday.

"We can't go home without fixing anything," said Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, who said he was most hopeful Congress could reach a compromise on a veterans' health care bill. Burgess, a doctor, said his constituents were keenly aware and sensitive about the problems plaguing medical facilities that treat veterans and the consequences of going home without acting.

The veterans' community feels the same way. "Pass a bill, or don't come back from recess," William A. Thien, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, warned lawmakers this week.

Both the House and Senate have passed veterans' legislation, but negotiations stalled over the cost of the bill. House Veterans Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Senate Veterans Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said negotiations are continuing, but there are only four days remaining on the congressional work schedule next week, so the window to act is closing.

An emergency spending bill requested by President Obama to stem the flow of undocumented minors along the U.S. southwest border has also stalled. After a strategy session Friday morning, House Republicans will try to bring to the floor next week a funding request that is less than $1 billion and includes a controversial change to a 2008 law that would make it easier to return the children to their home nations.

Congressional Democrats oppose the law change, and the White House has pulled back from initial statements suggesting support. The reversal inflamed tensions with congressional Republicans who say they will not supply the administration with more money without new policies. "It's very difficult to work with someone who is constantly changing his mind," said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats believe any policy changes should be debated and voted on separate from a funding bill to support the immediate needs of the agencies addressing the 57,000 unaccompanied immigrant children who have entered the country since October. "You want to talk immigration? Talk immigration. You want to honor the values of our country in terms of humanitarianism and due process? Pass the (funding) bill. There's no reason why they have to be tied, and I hope that the Republicans will come to that conclusion," she said Friday.

If Congress doesn't pass the funding request in time, the government's ability to detain and deport the children would be seriously curtailed. Many Republicans have called for an increase of flights sending the children back to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to send a clear signal of deterrence to parents in those countries. John Sandweg, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the agency would have to significantly cut back those flights without additional funding.

He said the funding is needed to maintain the already-limited detention facilities used to house many of those minors. He said ICE agents are responsible for escorting unaccompanied minors, acting almost as guardians, as they're transferred between government agencies and placed in long-term housing.

A lack of funding would cripple Customs and Border Protection efforts throughout the region. David Aguilar, the chief of the Border Patrol from 2004 to 2009, said that during past budget scares, the Border Patrol would cut back on vehicle maintenance, border-fence upkeep and flight hours for drones and aircraft used to patrol the border.

The combination of all those cuts, Aguilar said, would not only prevent the government from its primary mission of ensuring national security threats don't enter the country, but also hurt the message of deterrence that Washington is trying to send.

"Right now, the greatest tactical deterrent we have is the identification, detention and removal of this flow," said Aguilar, a partner at Washington-based Global Security and Intelligence Strategies. "Absent the supplemental â?¦ the inability to do all those things will start increasing and will be looked upon as an opportunity to exploit."

Without a resolution, both bills will have to wait until September, when Congress is scheduled to be in session for only 12 days and will add another "must pass" bill to the list: a stopgap funding bill to keep the government running when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

The one bright spot for action may be an $11 billion bill that would make up for a shortfall in the nation's account that funds highways and infrastructure projects. The Senate is on track to approve the House-passed bill next week, but even that legislation is a temporary fix that would keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through May 2015. The fund will dry up in August if Congress does nothing, threatening projects at the height of the summer construction season.